How did the Santhal rebellion change the British perception of Santhal villages?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Villages that had seemed calm and peaceful now appeared to be places of violent and savage deeds.
Option (1) Villages that had seemed calm and peaceful now appeared to be centres of an ideal world ruled by Santhals. — Incorrect. An ideal world where they would rule was the Santhals' own aim in rebelling. The British came to see the villages as violent.
Option (2) Villages that had seemed calm and peaceful now appeared to be places ruled by moneylenders and zamindars. — Incorrect. Moneylenders and zamindars were a cause of the rebellion. The new British view was of violence and savagery in the villages.
Option (3) Villages that had seemed calm and peaceful now appeared to be places of violent and savage deeds. — Correct. After the rising, the British began to see the once calm and peaceful villages as places of violent and savage deeds.
Option (4) Villages that had seemed calm and peaceful now appeared to be too poor to pay the heavy land taxes. — Incorrect. Heavy taxes on cleared land were a Santhal grievance before the revolt. The British view that changed was about savagery.
NCERT (2026-27): “2.2 The Santhals: Pioneer settlers … “The Santhals, however, soon found that the land they had brought under cultivation was slipping away from their hands. The state was levying heavy taxes on the land that the Santhals had cleared, moneylenders (dikus) were charging them high rates of interest and taking over the land when debts remained unpaid, and zamindars were asserting control over the Damin area.” |